Open Season
by govgal
Summary: When it's open season for verbal sparring and trust has taken a poison tipped arrow to the heart, can our favorite duo survive the hazards of city life and still rescue a damsel in distress before they turn on each other?
1. Chapter 1

White Collar belongs to Jeff Eastin and USA Network. I'm just trying to deal with PTSD from White Collar withdrawal, which will only get worse as the daylight gets shorter!

_This fic was inspired by canadianscanget who dared me to use the "countdown" drama, pedestrians in danger and a moose all mixed together and, yes, I do have personal experience with the last two. Although a moose walking down the street in the middle of traffic here would be considered more of a normal occurrence, I couldn't really see that happening in the middle of New York City, although I have to admit I've never been there, but desperately want to visit. I instead had to come up with something a little more plausible and funny to break the tension that is clearly apparent at the end of the "Countdown" episode. Peter's look just breaks my heart!_

**Open Season – Chapter 1 – No Talking, No Touching**

Peter's head was spinning and his vision was blurring in and out; thoughts of Elle running through his mind. She couldn't be dead; she just couldn't be dead. She had to be alive, Diana said the neighbors had seen her alive. She couldn't leave him; he loved her too much to let her go.

"Peter."

His vision sharpened, and his senses heightened when he lifted his head and caught sight of Neal. The pressure building up inside him gushed forth like magma in a volcano, and there was no way Neal was going to escape the wrath.

"This is your fault, Neal. It's your fault Elle is gone. You can't blame this on anyone else. Your charm won't get you out of this one. I trusted you. How could I have trusted you? He took my wife! This is your fault!"

If Peter had been in a more lucid frame of mind, he would have noticed an authentic expression of sorrow gracing Neal's features, his eyes big blue pools of guilt.

"I'm am so sorry, Peter. I _never_ meant for any of this to happen. You have to believe me; I never thought he would take Elle."

"I _don't care_ what you think at the moment! Keller wants the treasure. He says _you_ have it. You lied to me, Neal. All this time you've been lying to me. I can't do this anymore. I want the location of the treasure and then we're through. I'll deal with you later."

"Peter, please. I'm sorry. We'll get her back."

"Where's the treasure, Neal. I know you took it. Keller knows you took it and he's proved he's willing to do anything to get his hands on it."

Neal looked down at his Italian leather shoes, not willing to meet the fiery gaze Peter was aiming toward him. He started to mumble, afraid that if he spoke louder the rest of his world would come crashing down around him as well.

"I only know where the treasure _was_, Peter. I'm sure Mozzie is long gone with it, but we can check."

"So, you're pinning this all on Mozzie?"

Peter's fiery gaze turned into an expression of utter disbelief.

"Do you ever take responsibility for anything you do Neal?" Peter didn't really give Neal a chance to answer. "Never mind. Stupid question."

Peter gave Neal a look that made Neal's blood run cold; a look that shattered all the trust that had been painstakingly built up over the last two years. Even in all the time that Peter had been chasing him, Neal had never witnessed Peter having such a betrayed and furious look about him. Neal knew arguing was pointless, Peter had already made-up his mind, and there was nothing he could say or do that could fix it.

Peter snapped into agent mode, shoving emotion aside, and started belting orders to Jones and Diana to keep monitoring the road blocks and traffic cameras and keep him apprised of all leads before he switched his gaze back toward Neal.

"Neal, here's what you're going to do."

Peter preemptively held up his hand to stop Neal from interrupting, but then realized Neal wasn't opening his mouth for his usual retorts.

"Text Mozzie now to meet you wherever this treasure was kept. You're going to show me where it is, no questions asked! No funny business, and no excuses or lies!"

"I haven't lied to you, Peter."

Peter totally ignored Neal's last comment as he turned his back and stalked out the door, fully expecting Neal to follow him or else.

"Park over here." Neal motioned to an empty parking spot a few feet ahead of the Taurus. "We have to walk for several blocks because Mozzie would be completely paranoid if he saw your car anywhere around the building."

Peter parked the Taurus and turned the key off before looking over at Neal.

"If Mozzie's not here, I don't know what I'm going to do with you!"

"Sending me back to prison isn't your default option anymore?"

"Clearly it didn't teach you _anything_ the last time or you wouldn't have stolen the treasure and been lying to me for the last several months!"

"Peter."

The word came out more as a plea for understanding, but Peter was not in the mood to listen.

"Not a word, Neal. Not one word!"

Peter motioned with his index finger to emphasize the point.

"Do you understand me? Not one word. There is nothing, _nothing_ you could possibly say to me that would make things right. Everything that comes out of your mouth is a lie."

Neal wanted to argue with Peter. He wanted to plead his case and explain that he hadn't stolen the treasure, but he knew his actions since then wouldn't exactly qualify him for citizen of the month, and Peter was not in a forgiving mood.

Neal reached for the door handle of the Taurus, anxious to get out of the car quickly. He was feeling trapped in the closed space with a man that now presumably hated his guts, and was fairly justified in doing so. Neal heard rather than saw Peter getting out on the driver's side, and silently waited on the sidewalk for Peter to walk around the front of the car. Peter completely ignored Neal and started walking past him toward the stoplight, looking down at the address Neal had written for him on a scrap of paper. Neal followed a few steps behind thinking how easy it would be to just turn and run. Peter was so intent on getting to the storage unit Neal wondered how long it would take for Peter to even realize he was missing. Neal wanted to run, he wanted to run so badly, but he knew he owed it to Elle to get her back safely. If there was any hope of rescuing his partnership with Peter, Neal knew that Elle would have to be safe, and he knew that Peter couldn't find her without him. No matter how pig-headed or stubborn Peter tried to be, they were a team – arguably the best cop and robber team out there, and Neal knew that teamwork was the only way they were going to catch Keller.

Peter was several steps ahead of Neal, completely ignoring him and busy thinking of any angles that had not been covered by Jones, Diana or the rest of the team. He stopped suddenly realizing the light was red, and an orange hand cautioned pedestrians from crossing the street. Neal had been so lost in his own thoughts trying to figure out Keller's next move that he failed to see Peter had stopped suddenly; running directly into him. Peter jumped back trying to prevent himself from falling into traffic; a scowl appearing on his face, a reprimand forming on his lips.

"No touching! No talking, no touching! Stay away from me."

Neal didn't say a word, he just let out a long sigh before he realized Peter probably heard it and 'no sighing' would be added to Peter's list of forbidden items.

Neal glanced over at the pedestrians crossing on his right, trying to avoid looking at Peter. His eye suddenly caught on a sweatshirt a guy crossing the street was wearing. "_Watch out for moose droppings_" was screen printed across the front of the sweatshirt while an embroidered moose stared out at Neal looking like he meant business. Neal was sure he didn't ever want to tangle with a moose, but the thought of moose droppings just seemed incredibly funny to Neal. He remembered seeing people with big scoops following the big Belgian horses after a big parade, and couldn't even imagine what a moose could possibly produce when given a chance.

The thought of the size of moose droppings so amused Neal that Peter's admonishment to be quiet never even crossed his mind. Neal started laughing, almost hysterically. He was too overcome to notice that the light on his end was now green andwas displaying the image of a person walking. Neal stood rooted to the spot, still trying to catch his breath because he was laughing so hard.

Peter, meanwhile, was intent on getting to the storage unit that Neal had directed him to. He heard Neal laughing uproariously behind him and Peter felt anger rising to the surface once again. How dare Neal be laughing after what he did; did he have no shame? Peter fumed silently to himself regretting in the knowledge that it was a rhetorical question. He had let himself be conned _again_. He was an FBI Agent, a professional trained to take down criminals, but somehow Neal always managed to be on step ahead of him.

The second the light changed Peter started across ahead of the few other people still waiting to cross. Peter was so caught up being angry with Neal for his apparent disregard of the serious situation they were in that he failed to notice a yellow cab that had decided it could make it around the corner at the light that had just turned red without getting caught.

"Peter!"

Completely forgetting about Peter's '_no talking, no touching_' rule, Neal yelled at his friend as he saw the cab speeding up to make it around the corner, too late to close the distance between them and unable to push Peter out of the way.


	2. Chapter 2

White Collar belongs to Jeff Eastin and USA Network. I'm just playing with the characters in an attempt to deal with PTSD from White Collar withdrawal, which will only get worse as the daylight gets shorter!

Open Season

Chapter 2 – Bull's Eye

Peter was just about to take another step forward directly in the path of the cab when someone grabbed his arm and jerked him back as the cab sped past inches from his chest.

"Are you ok, Sir?"

Peter was momentarily speechless still trying to process what was happening. Eventually he managed to shake his head in the affirmative.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Thanks."

It was at that moment that Peter finally lifted his head to see the person that had rescued him from the path of the cab. It was a younger man, mid twenties with a stocky build, and wearing a sweatshirt with a big moose on it.

"Peter!"

Neal had broken out of his momentary stupor that had him frozen in horror. He reached Peter's side, but refrained from touching him; not sure if the traumatic experience would have changed the ground rules.

"I'm so glad you're ok. I didn't see the cab until it was too late!"  
>"I'm fine. I'm ok. We need to get going."<p>

Neal looked at Peter with a curious gaze, a little alarmed at Peter's casual statement.

"So you're not mad that I'm talking? I would have given you a hug, but I wasn't sure what rules were still in play."

"Fine. Whatever. Just try to limit your annoying behavior and we'll go from there."

"We can't leave until you at least introduce me to the guy that saved your life."

The young man that Neal guessed to be in his mid to late twenties turned around as Neal reached for his hand to thank him, seeing as Peter made no move to introduce him.

"Thanks for saving his life. I really appreciate it!"

"No problem man. My name's David. It always seems to be kill the pedestrian season, doesn't it?" David laughed. "At least hunting season is for a specific time period. It's always open season on pedestrians! It's almost like we all have bull's eyes on our backs. Even animals don't have it that bad!"

Neal started to laugh. As he lowered his gaze it caught on the familiar "Watch out for moose droppings" screen print. Neal's jaw dropped and he stared for a second before he caught himself and looked over at Peter.

"Did you see this guy's shirt? Isn't it great?"

Peter didn't even crack a smile, still overcome by his near death experience coupled with his worry over Elle and what Keller was doing to her.

"I guess if you like moose. I've never seen a moose or its droppings so how would I know what to look out for? This is New York City. Why would I even care?"

Peter really didn't sound all that interested and was irritated if anything. Peter's sour mood didn't seem to hinder David's bright and cheerful tourist attitude though.

"I'm from Alaska, you should really visit sometime. You could see a moose up close. Sometimes they just walk right in the middle of the street not caring at all about traffic."

"Well." Neal said, only smirking slightly. "That sounds just like my favorite F.B.I. friend here, just wandering into traffic."

Peter looked over at Neal shooting daggers at him.

"I did _not_ just wander into traffic, the light had changed!"

Peter responded in a very defensive tone of voice while David still ignored the increasingly charged atmosphere and had the biggest grin on his face.

"Wait a minute, you're F.B.I. agents? This is so cool! Are you in the middle if an exciting case? Do you think I could shadow you? Wow, I should take pictures! Nobody will ever believe me. This is epic! It's even better than seeing a polar bear!"

His face was seriously beaming and Peter looked over at Neal and caught his eye and raised his eyebrows as if to say 'is this guy for real'? Neal just shrugged his shoulders. He had no experience with Alaskans, how would he know? Peter rolled his eyes and grudgingly stuck out his hand to his rescuer.

"I suppose I should properly introduce us. I'm the F.B.I. agent. Special Agent Peter Burke and this is my criminal consultant, Neal Caffrey. Yes, we are on a case and we really don't have time to chat."

Neal looked over at Peter, his blue eyes seemingly innocent.

"But Peter, he saved your life! You owe him something. At least let him tag along for a little bit."

"Seriously?"

"Peter, you're going to hurt his feelings and he did just save your life. You could at least be slightly grateful."

"I'll be grateful enough when we find Elle, until then we're wasting time. If you want him to come he's your responsibility. I don't want him in my way."

Neal gave a mock salute and a crisp "Yes, Sir. Will do, Sir!"

Peter resisted the urge to smack Neal upside the head and turned to cross the street - this time successfully.

Once the three men reached the building where Mozzie was supposed to be waiting Peter leaned up against one door listening to anything inside. Neal stopped and turned around motioning David to come closer.

"I need you to do something very important for me, ok?" Neal asked in a conspiratorial whisper.

"Sure, anything!"

"Peter and I are going in there to conduct some very important business. I need you to stay out here and make sure no one follows us in okay?"

"I can do that!" David looked positively giddy at the prospect of helping out FBI agents on a very important mission. "Do you need me to warn you if something happens? I can do a moose call! I won the moose calling contest two years in a row!"

The last comment was loud enough for Peter to turn around and grimace, but before Peter could say anything sarcastic, Neal put his hand on David's shoulder and gave him a big smile.

"That's really commendable, David, but I don't think we'll be requiring the use of that specific skill set right now. All we need you to do is to make sure nobody else gets in, no warning necessary, understood?"

"Yes. Absolutely, no one gets in."

"Ok. I'm counting on you. This is very important!"

"I've got it covered! You can go do your F.B.I. agent thing, and I'll be waiting right here."

"I'm sure you will be."

Neal turned toward Peter and gave him a thumbs-up sign and a big wink. Peter just rolled his eyes and he opened the door and went inside, holding the door open just long enough for Neal to reach it.

"Do you really think he's going to be waiting there when we get back down there?"

"Yes, Peter, I really think he will be. He has way too much enthusiasm and thinks he is a part of an important mission; there's no way he's leaving."

"You really think so?"

"Oh come on, Peter, he's like a younger you! All excited and ready to go. I bet that's exactly what you were like when you were a young FBI Agent still wet behind the ears! When did you lose all your enthusiasm?"

"When did I lose my enthusiasm?" Peter gave a half-hearted laugh and looked Neal up and down as if there should have been an obvious answer that Neal was quite obviously missing.

"If I must explain it to you, it was when I met people like you who do nothing but take advantage of the system and don't have any respect for the law! They take what they want and don't have any idea about the chaos they leave behind for me to clean up."

Neal looked down for a moment realizing that there probably was a lot of truth to Peter's words.

"I'm sorry I let you down Peter, I really am, but I think David seems to be a good guy, maybe just a little too eager."

"Good, then there might be some hope yet for him, already he listens better than you!"

"Ouch, Peter. You wound me." Neal put his hand over his chest pretending Peter stabbed him.

Peter stopped at a gray door that had a big red "NO ADMITTANCE" sign and then looked back down at Neal.

"This is the place, right?"

"Yes, Peter, this is the place."

Peter put his hand on the door handle, but turned to look at Neal before he opened it.

"If anything happens to Elle, Neal, the damage will be far more serious than just a flesh wound."

"Understood!"


	3. Chapter 3  Noose Not Moose

White Collar belongs to Jeff Eastin and USA Network.

Spoilers abound for anyone who has not seen the episodes through Season 3's mid-season finale "_Countdown_"

Since it's been waaayyy too long since I've updated, here's a brief synopsis:

Peter knows that Neal knows where the treasure is and demands that Neal take him to it. On the way to the warehouse, Peter is almost taken out by a taxi running a red light, but is rescued by a kindly Alaskan named David wearing a big moose T-shirt (which Neal thinks is hysterical, while Peter fails to see the humor in the situation). Neal insists David accompany them to the warehouse as a thank you for saving Peter's life. Peter & Neal are about to enter the warehouse and have left David outside to prevent any intruders from entering.

Open Season

Chapter 3 – Noose, Not Moose

Peter turned the handle and opened the door. He motioned for Neal to take the first steps into the storage unit. Neal stepped past him and took a couple steps into the room. Mozzie, hearing footsteps, came around the corner.

"I hope you realize how big you owe me, Neal. If this takes more than the 22 paintings, I may have to reconsider our friendship."

"Moz, we just need to…"

"22 paintings."

Peter interrupted Neal as he stepped into the room.

"Exactly what 22 paintings would they be, and why 22?"

Peter looked over at Mozzie, who had a shocked expression on his face, but didn't say a word.

"How did you know?"

Peter looked first at Mozzie, but then turned his head toward Neal, but Neal was too busy glaring at Mozzie to notice. Peter stepped closer, invaded Neal's personal space and poked his finger into Neal's chest.

"How did you know?" He repeated.

Ever the charming conman, Neal misdirected.

"22 is a nice even number, don't you think, Peter?"

"Enough! I was hoping I was wrong, but _once again_, my gut feeling was dead on. I was trying to ignore it. I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt, _again_, but now I'm positive there was a specific reason that Mozzie invited Elle to a museum while I was on a stakeout, and you begged not to be on the stakeout in the van. I do check your tracking data, Neal, and you were there in my house, _my house_, Neal! Is nothing sacred to you?"

Neal kept his expression steady, even though Peter was in his face glaring at him. Neal was not willing to crack as he wasn't sure exactly how much Peter knew. Did he just know Neal was in his house, or did he know about the manifest? Of course, either way he was in trouble, it just depended on how much trouble he could be in.

"I'm in your house a lot Peter, maybe the timestamp was off."

"_Don't_ play games with me, Neal! There's only _one_ reason you would be at my house without me, and only _one_ reason that you would know about 22 paintings! You saw the manifest. You copied it or took a picture of it or something and _that's_ why you pulled the Degas off the market."

"Neal didn't pull the Degas off the market." Mozzie defended from the far corner of the room where he had backed up to.

"Of course not, Mozzie." Peter said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm sure it was you so that Neal had plausible deniability. Someone, please, tell me I'm wrong."

Peter glared first at Mozzie and then at Neal.

"You're wrong?" Neal responded wearing his most innocent expression.

"Why is this the only time you ever listen to me? I'm not stupid, Neal. _Don't_ underestimate me! You know what. This is not happening again. I will not tolerate your lies of omission anymore. Now that you've brought me to Mozzie, Neal, you've become the middle man and you've just become irrelevant. This means that I don't need you on the case."

"You can't bench me on this Peter. I'm the only way to find Keller."

"I'm not benching you, Neal. I'm arresting you for breaking and entering now that I have confirmed that I wasn't wrong about the tracking data, and yes, simply because I can. Do you think I'm the only one that has access to your data? What if someone else tracks it down, what if someone else knows that I was on a stakeout in the van and obviously you weren't there with me. What if they think Elizabeth was there with you, and now she disappears. What do you think that looks like? Do you even think about these things?"

Neal had to admit he didn't, he was just so focused on getting the manifest, he didn't think about anything else. He had been stupid, he had just assumed that as long as he didn't activate his tracker, Peter wouldn't be checking it. Neal just wanted to kick himself. He hadn't made a rookie mistake like that since he had been chasing Kate. However, Neal wasn't going to admit all of that to Peter, so he just whispered a response.

"No."

"I'm sorry, Neal, I didn't quite catch that." Peter growled out.

"No." Neal said a bit louder. "No, I didn't think about how it would look, because I thought you trusted me enough not to look at the tracking data."

"Well, obviously, its a good thing I _didn't_ trust you. Now, stop stalling, and put your hands behind your back."

Neal slowly complied, not making any further comments. Peter withdrew handcuffs as Kramer's voice invaded his conscious thought. _When this happens you're not slapping cuffs on a criminal, you're taking down a friend…It hurts. _ Peter disagreed. _No, Kramer's wrong, he is a criminal, he betrayed me. A friend would not betray me like this._ Kramer said it would hurt, but to Peter it didn't just hurt, it was literally burning him up, he was trapped in a fire ball, a vengeful seething fireball, that was far beyond any definition of hurt or hurting. Peter squeezed the cuffs a little tighter than necessary, not really caring if he was injuring Neal in the process. 

"You have the right to remain silent…"

"You can stop with the speech, Peter. I know my rights. Listen to me, please, I need to help with catching Elizabeth, I'm the only one who can. You can't do this without me."

Sick of Neal's flippant comments, Peter grabbed Neal's arms and pushed him against the wall, hard, and pinned him there.

"You really do think the world revolves around you, don't you? You're not even sorry. I didn't hear an '_I'm sorry Peter_. _I broke into your house and I know it was wrong._' You want to know why? Because you can't help yourself. You're a criminal and a thief, and you haven't changed. You still think you're invincible. You can't even say you didn't know it was wrong, because you did and _you did it anyway_!"

Peter moved his forearm until it was pressed against Neal's neck, making it difficult for him to breathe. Neal was so caught off guard that he hadn't even attempted to pick the handcuffs and when he saw Peter's arm come up, his eyes filled with terror, real actual terror; afraid that Peter might actually hurt him this time, and knew full well that he actually deserved it.

"I'm sorry, Peter."

Neal croaked with what little remaining air he had in his lungs, hoping that the admission might convince Peter to loosen his grip.

"Too late, Neal."

"It's my fault, Suit. I got him involved."

"Stop while you're still ahead, Mozzie."

Peter turned his death glare on Mozzie.

"Don't make me arrest you too. I need you and the paintings. Maybe I'll just give both to Keller and let him deal with you. Who knows what he has in mind now that he knows you put a hit out on him."

"Point taken. Shutting up now."

Neal couldn't help but smile at Mozzie's attempt to defend him, but Peter saw it more as a smirk, and released Neal slightly only to push him back harder into the wall. Neal's head jerked forward and then back at the sudden motion, coming to a sudden stop as it made contact with the wall; momentarily stunning him.

"No. No, that's not funny, Neal. I'm serious. I've had it with you. No more chances."

Neal, still trying to get his bearings, didn't respond immediately.

"What? No witty repartee? Silver tongue not working?"

"Peter, I said I was sorry. Besides, you said you weren't sending me back to prison because you didn't think I learned anything. I thought you were a man of your word."

That comment stung Peter more than he thought it would. How dare Neal throw his words back at him when the situation had so obviously changed.

"You think 'sorry' will cover breaking into my house, getting my wife kidnapped and leading me on a wild goose chase with the treasure? _You_ changed the circumstances. _You_ deserve to be in prison, maybe even solitary if I can arrange it."

"I'm sorry, Peter. You can't possibly know how much. I know you're upset."

Peter just glared at Neal.

"Ok. Ok. A little… a lot more than upset. Just tell me how I can make it up to you? What can I do?"

"You think you can just ask me to pull some strings and this will all magically go away? This isn't a fairytale Neal, and you're definitely not the Knight in Shining Armor. Even if I wanted to, _which I don't_, there aren't any strings _left_ to pull! You've burned your all your bridges. The only thing left is the noose around _my_ neck because I'm going down with you."

"You said noose and not moose right?"

The flippant comment just slipped out of Neal's mouth. He hadn't really meant to say it out loud, but quite obviously he had hit his head harder than he thought. He would have never pushed Peter this far if he had been thinking clearly. The seemingly flippant comment was the last straw for Peter. He slapped Neal hard across the face, stunning Neal even further, Peter's face glowing red with anger as he growled directly at Neal.

"You just don't get it do you? Even with all that's happened you're still cracking jokes! I won't, hear that, _won't_ save you this time, Neal, you've blown it for good. I want you out of my sight."

Peter pulled Neal away from the wall and jerked him toward the door, not willing to let go of him just yet as Peter opened it and bellowed.

"David! I need you in here, now!"

David had been minding his own business outside, observing the passersby who really weren't paying any attention to him. All of the sudden, he heard his name being yelled, and could only assume that something had happened and the FBI Agents needed his help. Adrenaline burst through his veins in an instant, he was going to be important; oh the stories he would be able to tell back home. David pulled open the door and rushed up the stairs. He saw Peter standing at the top and hurried into the room, stopping dead because it actually seemed eerily quiet. His adrenaline fueled brain quickly scanned the room as he noticed both Peter and Neal off to one side and a smaller bald man with glasses standing in front of several paintings, with more spread out through the room. David was puzzled because it there was no firefight, no blood, in fact, nothing that appeared to be out of control. Just three guys and quite a few paintings; what a disappointment!

Peter could see that David was sizing up the situation, but Peter tapped him on the shoulder interrupting his reverie.

"Keys, for my car." Peter pushed his keys into David's hands.

"I need you to watch a prisoner for me while I conduct further business. Make sure he stays in the car and doesn't run. Also, he has a tendency to slip out of handcuffs. Keep both eyes on him. Can you do that for me?"

David, not missing the curt almost rude tone of voice from Peter, looked over at the small man with glasses, assuming that was the prisoner Agent Burke had been referring to. He was very surprised when Burke pushed Neal toward him, Neal stumbling, when David first noticed that Neal's hands were behind his back.

"Neal? You want me to watch Neal?"

Peter turned a withering gaze on David, but then slightly relented when he saw David's authentically innocent and hopeful expression.

"Sometimes it just doesn't pay to get out of bed in the morning."

"You know Peter," Neal turned to face him, and in an almost childlike voice said softly. "If you had been in bed and not on that stakeout this never would have happened!"

Neal had said it regretfully as it he wished the situation had been different, but Peter took it as an accusation. He raised his arm and looked was about to break Neal's nose with a squarely place punch when he remembered David was in the room and let his arm fall. A moment of sanity gripped him as he realized what a bad example he had set, and refrained from further physical violence.

"How dare you make this all my fault!"

"If the shoe fits..."

"Say goodbye to your Italian leather and hello to prison slippers!"


	4. Chapter 4 Little Green Men

White Collar belongs to Jeff Eastin and USA Network.

I know, I can't believe it either…another chapter already… I hope this in some small measure makes up for the entirely unacceptable length of time between updates! I hope you enjoy, and please let me know what you think. I always enjoy hearing from my readers!

Open Season

Chapter 4 – Little Green Men

Peter motioned for David to leave the room with Neal.

"You've got your work cut out for you." Mozzie called out to David after their disappearing forms, and then he focused on Peter.

"Who was he? New recruit?"

"Why do you care?"

"I was just expecting Jr. Suit or Lady Suit to come to your rescue, not some unknown guy. Neal's never mentioned anyone else."

"Ha, His name is David, who knows, he might actually have a future in law enforcement. He seems to be a good kid. He's visiting from Alaska."

Peter decided it would not be wise to inform Mozzie that David had saved his life, pulling him from in front of the speeding taxi. Peter knew Mozzie would never let him forget it.

"We just need to focus on how we are going to trap Keller."

Mozzie, however, was still busy digesting the news about David. He was from Alaska? This was great news. He had always wanted to talk to someone from Alaska, someone who might be able to shed some light on another of his weird obsessions.

"I must talk to him, Suit. I need to ask him about the little green men dancing in the sky."

"You need to ask Keller?"

"What? No, David. I need to ask David."

"You need to ask David about little green men? Give it up Moz, I've had enough of your alien talk. We need to find Elizabeth."  
>"I'm not helping you unless you let me talk to David."<p>

"Just to humor you, because I do desperately need your help, what could David _possibly_ know about aliens that you couldn't get from someone else at some other time?"

"I'm trying to uphold the law."

"I know I didn't hear that correctly."

"Will Rogers, Suit. He said '_Our Constitution protects aliens, drunks and U.S. Senators'_."

"Of course," Peter responded dryly. "Why was that not the first thing to pop into my mind, because I, as a duly sworn FBI Agent, would of course want to uphold all aspects of the Constitution."

Mozzie smiled.

"You're on the right track, Suit."

Peter didn't smile.

"That would definitely explain the amount of wine you consume along with your constant conspiracy theories. How many U.S. Senators do you have in your pocket anyway?"

Mozzie gave Peter a condescending look that told Peter he couldn't possibly understand the significance of _that_ discussion.

"You're right. I don't want to know." Peter relented, finally raising his hands in surrender. "Ok, Ok. If it helps me find Elizabeth, you can talk to David, but first we need a plan."

"Oh, I have a plan, Suit. Keller's as good as dead."

"But will Elizabeth still be alive?"

David and Neal reached the Taurus, and David opened the back door for Neal.

"Prisoners always get in the back, right? This isn't a regular police car though. I hope that's ok."

Neal scooted himself in and looked out at David.

"Join me. It might be a while."

He was much too tired to play games anymore, his head was hurting, his wrists were hurting, and Neal was confident that Peter had purposefully secured the handcuffs a little tighter than was necessary. He could really use some Advil.

David looked at Neal suspiciously wondering what he could have possibly done in such a short time to have made Peter that mad at him. David shut the rear car door and walked around to the driver's side and slide behind the wheel. He made the conscious decision not to be in the back seat with Neal. Neal noticed as well.

"You don't have to be afraid of me, David. I'm not dangerous, and I'm not going to hurt you."

"Why was Agent Burke so mad at you then?"

"Would you believe me if I said it was all a misunderstanding?"

"He looked ready to punch your lights out. I don't think that looked like a simple misunderstanding."

Neal grimaced, still a little unbelieving that his carefully constructed house of cards had fallen apart so completely and somehow the Ace of Spades that he had up his sleeve had mysteriously disappeared, leaving him running out of options.

"Well, it started out as a misunderstanding and I was completely innocent at the time."

David looked skeptical.

"I was." Neal confirmed. "But then it got complicated, and I might have done a few questionable things after that Pet…I mean, Agent Burke, isn't so ready to forgive. Metaphorically, it started with just a few flakes of snow and somehow turned into an avalanche that I wasn't expecting and a few other people might have gotten hurt in the process."

David looked back at Neal thoughtfully, trying to put the few pieces of the puzzle he had together.

"I remember Agent Burke saying something about finding Elle. I'm betting that's his wife, and he thinks your responsible."

Neal grimaced again.

"You really should become an FBI Agent, you don't miss much do you? Yes. She's his wife, yes, she's missing, and yes, Agent Burke is really mad at me, but it's a bit more serious than that."

"He looked upset when we first met, but now he just looks enraged."

"He discovered something else about me, and I'm pretty sure he won't be able to forgive that."

"Sounds like you've gotten in way over your head."

"You have no idea."


	5. Chapter 5  That Was Too Easy

White Collar belongs to Jeff Eastin and USA Network.

**Open Season **

_Chapter 5 _

**That Was Too Easy**

Neal had pegged David right on. He was very eager to help; almost a little too much. This was going to be too easy. Now that he was thinking a little more clearly, Neal was beginning to form a plan. There was no way he was letting Peter bench him. He was going to rescue Elizabeth; even if he had to do it himself. Neal was running through the possibilities in his mind while his fingers felt along the lining of his suit for the pick he always carried with him for just such emergencies.

"What's the plan?"

Peter was getting a little impatient with the little guy's mindless chatter that didn't seem to really have a point.

"I have every intention of helping get Mrs. Suit back."

"Alive, Moz. She needs to be alive."

"Yeah, I got it. I got it the _first_ time Neal asked me for help. You don't need to remind me. I may not be in an agreeable mood much longer."

"I don't care about your mood, I want my wife back, so I repeat, what's the plan?"

"We rescue Elizabeth and Keller is dead."

"As much as I like that scenario, I would really appreciate it if you would let me in on exactly _how_ you are going to accomplish that. Keller always seems to be way too far ahead."

"Give him what he doesn't expect."

"…and that would be?"

Moz didn't miss the obvious sarcasm apparent in Peter's tone.

"The treasure." Moz simply stated.

"You're not just going to hand it over, Moz. Give me some credit."

"See, even _you_ don't believe me, so why would Keller? He's going to be expecting a double cross. So we are going to be very agreeable and just hand it over."

"That's a stupid plan."

"I have a few things up my sleeve, Suit. Do you want my help or not? You just ditched Neal, so I'm all you've got left. Don't question my methods. I do have Mrs. Suit's safety in mind."

Peter grunted his dissatisfaction, but didn't argue Mozzie's point.

Neal had located his pick and made small talk with David simply to cover the sound of him picking the lock. It opened with a slight click, but Neal was certain David didn't hear it because he was too busy telling Neal all about the different sights and sounds of Alaska, insisting at one point that Neal had to come visit. David promised to take him to Denali National Park to see Mt. McKinley, North America's highest mountain. Neal pointed out that it would have to wait for a few years until he was out of his tracking anklet, but realized he was actually interested in painting the mountain and scenery if it was indeed as beautiful as David was describing.

David continued to chatter on about how Alaska was even more beautiful if you took a train ride to parts where you couldn't even drive, but Neal's attention had wandered to a baby stroller that was rolling down the sidewalk unattended and didn't look like it had any way of stopping before it rolled into the street. This looked like the perfect opportunity he had been waiting for.

"David, you have to rescue the baby!" Neal shouted, interrupting David's story, pointing at the baby carriage.

David turned his head to see what Neal was talking about and immediately got out of the car. Neal had just managed to open the back door slightly when he saw David hold out the car keys, Neal assumed it was to lock the doors, which in his favor wouldn't work if his door was already open. Neal waited just a few seconds to make sure David's attention was on the baby stroller when he quickly dashed from the car and disappeared around the corner. As he was running, Neal hoped that Peter wasn't too hard on David when he discovered Neal was gone. David really did seem to be a nice kid; he just was a little wet behind the ears yet and was clearly no match for the great Neal Caffrey. Neal realized he would probably defend David and make sure Peter knew it wasn't his fault. Neal knew the agent _would_ find him, after all he did have a GPS tracker. Neal just hoped that he could keep one step ahead and somehow find Elizabeth first.

"Do I really want to know?" Peter was quite sure he didn't, but he asked out of a morbid curiosity about what the little guy was planning to get rid of Keller and save Elizabeth.

"How about we discuss a hypothetical situation?" Moz began. "Suppose once upon a time a certain someone found out that another certain someone was allergic to a certain type of plant. This certain someone has decided that this knowledge might come in handy because the other certain person had committed a crime and the first someone wants to assure that the other someone gets what he deserves."

"And I'm guessing that by using this certain type of plant yourself you can save yourself the $6 million offered to get rid of this other certain someone?"

"I like the way you think, Suit. If you want something done right, you usually have to do it yourself. You just can't find good help these days."

"I prefer teamwork, people I can trust that have my back."

"I must admit, for Suits, Jr. Suit and Lady Suit could be a whole lot worse."

"I'm glad you think so. Now, hypothetically, if you were going to poison someone, what would you use?"

"Hypothetically, urusiol lacquer. It's derived from poison ivy and can be very effective in small amounts. In fact, the Japanese used urushiol lacquer when they were restoring a gold leaf for the golden Temple in Kyoto. If a thief ever tried to steal it and touched the leaf, they would be caught red handed from the rash that would take over their skin."

"I have to say for once your obscene interests in all things weird and wacky might just pay off in this hypothetical situation."

"A compliment, Suit? This is turning out to be a strange day indeed. Now, hypothetically, we would have a large chest coated in this urusiol lacquer. This certain someone would open the chest and come in contact with said poison. Keller is really not an art guy as much as he is a money guy, so if he can just see the paintings and can verify that he can have them, he probably won't handle them a lot. After all, he probably doesn't know what to look for even if he tried to examine them. We can also assure him that Elizabeth is important enough to actually hand over the real paintings, and besides, you've ditched the best forger I know."

Peter glared at Mozzie.

"Ok. Continuing, even if he does handle the paintings, it's not toxic to the frames, only to people. We don't want to be touching it ourselves. The lacquer can always be removed, and if necessary we can always remove the frames and save the canvas after Keller is out of the picture. We let him think that he can just walk off with the chest. We demand Elizabeth be at the meeting and we won't give him the keys to the semi loaded with the rest of the treasure until he hands her over. It doesn't even need to be the right keys because he shouldn't make it very far out of the building before he reacts."

"Hypothetically, would this take a certain someone out of the picture permanently?"

"It all depends on if there are medical personnel nearby."

"So, hypothetically, in a situation like this, would you be diverting or distracting medical personnel?"

"Hypothetically, I would actually have medical personnel on scene, friendly to me of course, and then have said medical personnel sustain said person and transport him to a previously determined meeting place and hand him over to the Russians. They can dispose of him as they so choose, and since I'm sure they are losing patience, I would assume he will be swimming with the fishies. Most importantly, the deed will be done with no blood on our hands."

"And what would happen to the treasure in this fine hypothetical scenario?"

"Since you already know we already know about the 22 paintings, and I can't sell them, I would be willing to let you have those in return for letting me disappear."

"As if I could stop you while I'm busy hugging my wife. However, you're not taking Neal with you. He has to finish out his sentence whether or not we are on speaking terms at the moment."

"Neal chose you Suit. He may have made some really bad decisions, but he chose _you_ over the treasure when I gave him an ultimatum. I told him it was you or me. He chose you and this is the thanks he gets. For some strange and odd reason which I don't understand, he likes it at the FBI. He respects you and Elizabeth. He's not going to run even after the way you've treated him."

Mozzie paused and Peter turned as they could hear footsteps running up the stairs, and then David burst through the door.

"Neal's gone."

Peter looked over at Mozzie, with a surprised look on his face.

"I guess you're wrong."


	6. Chapter 6 2 Deals, 1 Treasure, No Aliens

White Collar belongs to Jeff Eastin and USA Network

_An extra long chapter in celebration of tomorrow' premiere and this story will ultimately become AU. Unfortunately, I won't be able to watch it tomorrow; this makes me very sad. So, what I really want is a pity party! (well, just a regular party would be nice too, but oh well). Please feel free to leave encouraging comments to make up for this sad occasion. I know it could be worse for all of you that can't even download the episodes on iTunes. I do feel for you! Meanwhile, please enjoy my next chapter._

**Open Season**

Chapter 6

_Two Deals, One Treasure, No Aliens_

"Neal's gone? What happened?"

Peter questioned. David realized Peter looked slightly annoyed, but definitely not as angry as David thought he would be as he tried to explain.  
>"There was a baby carriage rolling down the sidewalk and was going to cross into the street. It was going to get hit, so I ran into the street to get it out of the way. I locked the car with the remote and I ran after the stroller. Then the baby's parents came running, and everything was ok and the baby was safe, but when I got back to the car, Neal was gone."<p>

David paused to take a deep breath and to let Peter tell him what a bad job he'd done, but Peter didn't say anything, so David continued.

"I'm so sorry, I know how this looks. I screwed up. I guess being an FBI Agent is harder than it looks."

Peter felt his anger dissipating. He actually felt sorry for the young man. It wasn't really his fault; he couldn't have had any idea what Neal was capable of. Besides, it's not like Peter had really expected Neal to stay in the car anyway, he had mainly arrested him just because he could and because he wanted Neal out of his sight before he did something he really regretted. He also hadn't really wanted David around when he talked to Mozzie either, so he thought he had solved two problems at once; clearly David was taking this personally though.

"David, it's ok. Really. This is a guy who broke out of a maximum security prison. I shouldn't have arrested him and dumped him on you. I'm sorry, I lost my cool, and I shouldn't have. Neal is stubborn, and he's probably putting some cockeyed plan into effect to save Elizabeth himself. He probably would have gotten away even if I had been there."

"I doubt that. Look, I'm sorry for the trouble. I'll just go back to exploring the city and you can keep catching bad guys. I've really had enough excitement for the day."

David handed Peter back his keys.

"No! You can't leave!" Mozzie quickly hurried over to David. "I need to talk to you."

"About what?" David looked confused.

"No. It really has to wait!" Peter demanded. "Time is of the essence."

Peter looked directly at Mozzie.

"Has your hypothetical scenario already been put in motion?"

Mozzie shot Peter a withering look.

"The reason for time, _Suit_, is so that everything doesn't happen at once. Be patient!"

"My wife is not hypothetically missing. I will not be patient until we find her. Who knows what Keller is doing to her!"

"So, just so we're absolutely clear, you don't actually want this to be a hypothetical scenario do you? You actually want us to put the plan in motion, correct?"

"I want _you _to put the plan in motion, yes. _I_ want to find Keller, but I want him brought to justice the right way."

"I think the Russians have their own definition of justice."

"Spare me the details. How long will it take? How long until this not hypothetical plan of yours is ready?"

"Well, we just need to get these paintings in the chest, and then have a time and a place to meet. If all three of us help out it could be done very quickly, Suit."

"Here's a bright idea for you. Why don't you set up a time with Keller, and David and I will very carefully put the paintings in the chest; once you tell us where it is, of course."

"That won't work."

Peter looked increasingly perturbed, and didn't bother to tame the sarcasm in his voice.

"I'm sorry. How have I possibly offended your delicate ego now. Please, enlighten me!"

"Just this once I'll let the sarcasm slide, and you just being a suit offends me. I put up with you only because of Neal. The problem though is I don't have Keller's number. Neal's the one that always talks to him and now Neal's gone; besides, he's probably contacting Keller without us."

Peter took several deep breaths, trying not to lose his temper twice in the same day. Finally, getting his breathing under control, Peter took a step toward Mozzie.

"So, you're telling me that we have the treasure that Keller wants in exchange for Elizabeth, but we don't have anyway of contacting him, and the only person that can has disappeared and will more than likely be bargaining with something he doesn't have in exchange for my wife."

"Has anyone ever told you you're smarter than you look, Suit! I'm impressed, that was a very accurate deduction. However, if you want to talk to Keller, you'll have to wait for him to contact you."

"Don't you have some crime superfriends that could help us out? Get in touch somehow?"

"Believe it or not, Suit, my 'crime superfriends' as you so disdainfully referred to them are smart enough not to hang around with someone the Russian Mob is after. That's just bad for business."

"Please tell me you're kidding!"

"Suit, I…"  
>Mozzie was interrupted by a cell phone ringing in Peter's jacket pocket. Peter looked surprised and then remembered the cell phone Keller had left in his car. He had totally forgotten about it in all the confusion. He pulled the phone out of his pocket and looked at Mozzie.<p>

"You're right. It's Keller."

Peter opened the phone and hit talk.

"What do you want, Keller?" Peter had a distinct tone of aggression in his voice.

"Is that anyway to greet someone who holds your wife's life in his hands? Besides, you know what I want. The treasure, Peter. I want the treasure. I don't care who gives it to me. It could be you, it could be Neal, it could even be Mozzie, but I WANT THE TREASURE!"

Keller's voice increased in decibels by the end of his statement.

"If you touch one hair on my wife's head…" Peter threatened.

"Ok. Ok. Let's both calm down. You want your wife back and I want the treasure. It's a simple swap. Where did you want to meet?"

Peter ignored Keller's question, making some demands of his own.

"I want my wife at the exchange. I want to see her. I want to see that she's ok before we hand over the treasure."

Keller didn't take too kindly to the demands.

"Is Neal or Mozzie with you? I want to talk to one of them. You're too close to the situation, Peter. You can't make wise or logical decisions right now."

Peter reluctantly handed the phone to Mozzie; not about to admit that Keller might be right.

"Keller wants to talk to you…"

Mozzie took the phone and walked away from Peter and David, so they could only hear pieces of his conversation.

"Yes. Mrs. Suit is worth it to me…You wouldn't understand…I'll let you see a sample of the treasure. I have it in a chest...The rest is boxed up and ready to go…Some of us actually are loyal to friends. No, you wouldn't have any idea what that would be like."

Mozzie wandered farther away almost to the edge of the storage area, far enough away that neither Peter nor David could hear any more of the conversation. Peter really didn't want to know what they were discussing. David looked curious as he turned to look at Peter.

"Who is on the phone? What's going on?"

"It's the man who kidnapped my wife, and who knows what Mozzie is telling him. He's supposed to be setting up a place for the meet. I'm sorry, David. You can't come. This man is more than likely armed and _extremely_ dangerous. I can't let you anywhere near him. I appreciate you saving my life. I really do, but I'm sorry, I can't let you get involved any further."

"It was my pleasure, Agent Burke. Did Mozzie really have something to ask me? I'm not sure how I could possibly help him."

Peter just chuckled.

"The only thing you need to know about Mozzie is that he is very odd and has very strange obsessions. Just ignore anything related to aliens or any other conspiracy theory you might be aware of. He thrives on those."

"I beg to differ, Suit. There _are_ aliens, and there _are_ true conspiracy theories." Mozzie commented, having stealthily snuck up behind Peter and David without them hearing him.

"David really needs to go, and we have a treasure to pack and deliver. Do we have a time and place? Will Elizabeth be there?"

"Yes. I texted the location to Keller, he agree to have Elizabeth there. We just need to get him to touch the chest. Encourage him to peruse the works of art. Now, we need to get them packed. Perhaps I can inquire of David's knowledge while we carefully pack the paintings? Let's see. To be most efficient I think we should form an assembly line so that none of us have to walk very far with the painting and only one of us needs to be by the chest. Remember, under no circumstances, should you touch the chest. The lacquer is very dangerous. We must wear gloves!"

Peter looked over at David.

"Would you have a few minutes to spare while we pack these paintings? Apparently whatever Mozzie wants to discuss is important to _him_. Not necessarily to _us_. Understand?"

"Got it." David actually smiled at the way Peter had discussed Mozzie's intentions. "I'll help in anyway I can."

Mozzie handed them both some industrial type gloves specifically designed to handle chemicals and they got right to work.

Neal had caught the first taxi he could find home. He arrived at June's and rushed up the stairs. If Peter checked his anklet, he could at least see that Neal had gone home first. Who knows where he would end up next. Neal grabbed the Degas that was still on his easel, the real Degas, the one he had stolen from Richmond right under Peter's nose. Neal knew he didn't have time to paint another fake, so it would have to do. He was out of options, and he couldn't let Keller hurt Elizabeth any more than he already had. Neal pulled out his cell phone and dialed Keller's number.

"Well, hello Neal. I'm surprised to hear from you."

Even though Neal couldn't see Keller's face, he could envision the smirk fully planted on it and it made him mad.

"I don't trust you to hand over Elizabeth. I want assurances that if I give you the treasure, you'll let her go unharmed."

"You need to trust people more, Neal; that they'll do what they say. You're so distrustful." Keller paused mid-sneer as if a thought had just crossed his mind.

"Oh wait, I forget who I'm talking to, the great Neal Caffrey who can say the right words and make everybody trust him before he walks away with their entire life savings."

Neal ignored Keller's insults and continued to bargain.

"I have a Degas in my hand right now, and I know that will give you a nice payday. I'll even let you inspect it yourself. It's the real deal. You hand over Elizabeth and you'll get the rest of the treasure, no questions asked. You win. I'm sick of playing games."

"Wow. Quite the gentlemen now aren't you. Sacrificing your dreams for a damsel in distress. It's pathetic really, seeing you crawl like this. I had expected a big fight, a big con. Something worthy of the great Neal Caffrey. I must say, I think you're giving up _way_ too easily. Maybe it's because your handler is finally seeing the real you and he's sick of playing your games as well.

"Peter has nothing to do with this, neither does Elizabeth, and yet you involved both of them. You'll pay for this Keller. You're right, Peter might hate me now, but Elizabeth was innocent in all this. This is between you and me. You had no right to involve her. You're on thin ice. I'm living proof that your sins always come back and bite you. Always. I'm just warning you. I hand over this Degas, you hand over Elizabeth and you'll have enough money to pay the Russian's off for good and get off their radar. Then I never want to see you again. Ever."

"That's very chivalrous of you to warn me, Neal, but completely unnecessary. I'm not in any danger. You said so yourself. I get the treasure. I pay off the Russians. I'll text you the location to meet me. Be on time or you'll never see Elizabeth Burke again."

Keller hit the end button, a wicked grin on his face. It was too bad Neal wasn't there to see it Keller thought smugly as he sent Neal the text message with the meet location; the same info he had just received from Mozzie. Keller realized that obviously Neal didn't know about his conversation with Peter and Mozzie, which led him to surmise that Peter had indeed ditched Neal out of anger and wasn't letting him anywhere near their operation. Keller knew he could use this to his advantage. Putting Neal and Peter in the same room might also create enough fireworks for Keller to slip away undetected with the treasure even if he did have to leave Elizabeth behind. It was always easier to escape without a hostage. It did seem odd though that both men were so intent on giving up the treasure of a lifetime for the sake of one woman that neither of them were married to. Keller had to admit to himself, he was a bit disappointed. This was too easy. He loved the game, and he really hated when someone forfeited; it just destroyed the joy of victory. However, in this case, Keller just wanted the treasure and if it came this easy, he wasn't going to say no. After all, his debt with the Russians was long overdue.

"Those aren't little green men, Mozzie. Who tells you these things?"

"I have my sources. They're very reliable."

"Yeah, ok, whatever." David mumbled before deciding to continue his explanation. "They're not little green men. They're called the Northern Lights, or the Aurora Borealis. They look like lights that are dancing in the sky. A lot of times they are green, but they can be different colors as well. The aurora gets its name from the Roman goddess of dawn, but the process really all starts from the sun."

"The little green men come from the sun?"

"Mozzie, are you even listening to what David has to say?"

Peter was losing patience with Mozzie as he carefully lifted yet another small painting into the chest, being very careful not to touch the outside.

"Of course I'm listening Suit, he's just not making sense. If the little green men were on the sun they would burn up. Even _I_ know the sun is too hot for them to survive." Mozzie said as he passed another painting to Peter.

"As I was saying." David started again, sounding just slightly patronizing, as he handed another painting to Mozzie who then handed it to Peter to put in the chest. "It starts from the sun. There is solar activity that releases gas, and when it reaches Earth's atmosphere it collides with Earth's magnetic field. This causes particles that flow around the North Pole and the South Pole and when they collide with oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the atmosphere they produce the spectacular Northern Lights, _not_ little green men."

"That's what teachers and the government _want_ you to think."

"Seriously? Are you for real? I mean, are you _really_ convinced there are aliens?"

"Oh, _look_. Last painting. I guess we're done here." Peter interrupted, desperately hoping that they could get on with the trade, he could get Elizabeth back and not sit through more excruciatingly boring discussion on whether or not there were little green men in the sky. Peter didn't want to mention the part about the aurora borealis was actually interesting because he feared it might encourage Mozzie to ask more questions, and Peter didn't have all day to waste.

"Yeah." David agreed as Peter noticed David actually sounded really relieved.

"I probably should be going. I'm getting hungry anyway."

"I can recommend this great place…" Mozzie started to say.

"No. I mean thanks anyway though."

David realized his 'no' had come out a little too abrupt and hoped it hadn't offended the strange little man who was convinced there were aliens.

"I think I'll settle for something at the hotel and relax before my day can get any more interesting."

David stripped off his gloves quickly, left them on the table and made a beeline for the door; thinking as he left that there were some _really_ strange people in New York City.

After Peter heard the door at the bottom of the steps close, he looked at Mozzie.

"You know you scared him away, right Moz?"

"The sooner he sees the truth, the better Suit. It's all a vast government conspiracy. I have a theory that maybe the aurora is a giant portal for streaming data to the alien spaceships and they're sending signals back to earth. It definitely will require more research, but what he had to say was very interesting. It's amazing what people teach in school nowdays."

Peter just shook his head, totally exasperated with the situation and Mozzie's inability to relate to anything normal.

"Enough already. Let's focus on the task at hand. We just need to close the lid on the chest and transport it. How long until the meet?"

"We have two hours. Let's get ready."

"No, you get ready. I'm going to call Jones about Neal's tracking data. I need to find out what he's up to, because I'm sure it's no good."


	7. Chapter 7

_White Collar belongs to Jeff Eastin and USA Network. I'm just borrowing the characters because they are so awesome, and obviously, I'm not making any money off it, or I would have updated it a long, long time ago ;-)_

_A million apologies for not updating sooner. Life turned upside down for a while, my grandma died, work got complicated and somehow I just lost a couple months without realizing how quickly time was flying by. Plus, after all that I pretty much lost all desire and energy to write. Hopefully now, I'm on the upswing, although writing this chapter was like pulling teeth, but at least the words were grudgingly starting to flow; no matter how resistant my brain seems to be. I'm starting a new job tomorrow, and the Season 4 premiere is Tuesday, So that's already two things to look forward to and maybe something else can go right for me and I can finish off the summer better than I started off the year... One can hope, right?_

**Open Season Chapter 7**

**Be Careful What You Wish For**

Peter could hear the typing over his cell phone as Jones cued up Neal's location.

"He's currently at home. Did you want me to keep monitoring? Are you expecting him to go anywhere?"

"I don't know anymore, but I really don't have the time to mess with tracking him. If he goes out of his radius let me know."

"Will do, Boss."

Neal wasn't about to let Mozzie give up all the treasure for Elle, so he needed to make the deal with Keller before Mozzie and Peter just handed over the treasure. He had the painting rolled up in a tube as he snuck around the corner of the building. He wanted to get a jump on Keller and figure out what he was doing. Neal wasn't sure Keller would actually hand over Elizabeth for just one painting, but maybe if he played on Keller's greed, he could bluff his way to figure out where Elle was. The big garage door was already open when Neal rounded the corner. Not good, he reasoned, knowing that would allow for a quick escape for Keller, but of course, Neal knew that Keller always thought several moves ahead. Neal peeked around the corner and saw several shelving units filled with crates. At least there seemed to be good cover while he scoped out the situation. Neal crept toward the first set of shelving pleased with himself that he was so light on his feet. He hadn't gotten more than a few feet when he has he distinct click of a gun being cocked near his left ear.

"Did you really think you could sneak up on me, Neal?" Keller hissed into Neal's ear.

"I was a few minutes early. I wanted to check out this place. You never know when a good hiding place will come in handy."

"You'll get firsthand experience in how well you can hide someone here, but first things first, I want the painting."

"I want Elizabeth. I don't see her here. Where is she?"

"She's here."

"Pardon me if I don't take your word for it. I want to see her."

"Patience is a virtue, Neal. Maybe you should practice."

Neal was about to respond but didn't have a chance before someone hit him in the back of the head and he collapsed to the floor.

Peter and Mozzie carefully hefted the trunk into place and opened the lid. Now all they had to do was wait for Keller to arrive. Mozzie had texted his medical friends who were standing by just waiting for Keller to need their services.

"Do you really think that Keller is going to come?" Peter asked.

He knew that Keller was bound and determined to get the treasure, but he was also unsure if Keller would know that he was walking in to a trap and send a hired gun. If so, all of their work would have gone to waste.

"We promised him the treasure, and I don't think he'd trust anyone else with it. I think he's so greedy he can't wait to get his hands on it." Mozzie replied.

"I certainly hope so. I want this to end once and for all." Peter replied in a hopeful tone. There was nothing he wanted more than for Keller to be safely in jail, and unable to hurt anyone else he cared about."

A door squeaked at the far end of the building as it grudgingly opened. Both Peter and Mozzie turned to see Keller leading a blindfolded Elizabeth into the room, her hands bound in front of her with rope.

"I assume you have the treasure here, or else Elizabeth will be very disappointed in you."

"The chest is right here for you to sample, the rest is waiting in a semi parked a couple blocks down, so as not to attract any attention to this place. Here are the keys."

Peter tossed the key ring toward Keller, who caught it with no problems.

"Well done, Burke!"

"You got what you wanted. Now, let me have my wife back."

Keller pushed Elizabeth toward Peter, and he rushed forward to catch her before she could trip and fall. Peter deftly removed the bindings from Elizabeth's hands and eyes while also keeping an eye on Keller who went back to peruse his newly gotten treasure. Keller opened up the trunk and gave an appreciative whistle.

"Come on, come on, this stuff had better work." Peter muttered under his breath, completely confusing Elle as to what he was talking about.

"Give it time Suit, have patience." Mozzie said as his finger hovered over his phone, ready to click send on his text message to his paramedic friends.

Keller finally turned back toward them with a painting in his hands, although Peter could only see greed in Keller's eyes, no true appreciation of what he was actually holding.

"Wanted to see me gloat? I beat you and your little pet con, again."

"I wouldn't speak to soon, Keller. Justice has a way of finding people."

"I have guys checking all over the vicinity, and there's not even a utility van in the area. The Feds aren't here. If they had been your wife wouldn't have been so lucky."

"No, they're not here. It was just me and Mozzie."

"Yeah, I don't see your pet con anywhere in sight. I wonder why that is?"

Keller was about to answer his own rhetorical question, when he experienced a small seizure and dropped the painting to the floor, while dropping to his knees glaring over at Peter and Mozzie.

"You did something to the treasure? Did you drug me? You were serious about killing me, weren't you, Mozzie?"

Thinking it was the art that had been compromised and not the trunk, Keller held on to the top open lid of the trunk for support to stand back up.

"Someone has to stop you, Keller; you're a menace to society."

"You think you're so smart, don't you?" Keller had to stop and cough, his lungs working against him. "I still have the ace though."

"Enlighten me then, Keller." Peter said as he took a couple steps toward Keller, while Mozzie hit send on his cell phone.

Keller, slowly and with great difficulty, fished something out of his pants and held it up for Peter to see.

"I have a backup plan." Keller coughed again, and tightened his hold on the trunk, not realizing that his grip was allowing more and more of the poison to be absorbed into his system. "Once I push this button, you have five minutes before it goes boom. Plenty of time to get out, right?"

"What's the catch, Keller?" Mozzie ground out, losing patience rapidly with Keller's games.

"I have Caffrey. He tried to make a deal with me earlier, but it didn't end so well for him. He's trapped in one of these crates in the warehouse, but I'm not telling you which one or where the bomb might be, but I can assure you I do have one."

"You know Keller, you're not as bad as people say, you're even worse. You have no respect for humanity, and now you're trying to kill all of us?"

"I'm not preventing you from leaving. The choice is up to you, but once I'm out of here, you'll only have a few minutes to make up your mind. Are you going to stay and search for Neal, or are you going to save yourself?"

"I wouldn't make the same choices you make, Keller. Neal is not dying if I have anything to say about it."

"Good luck with that Burke. It's no wonder Caffrey's been brainwashed, you really do sound noble and heroic. Guess it's time to put that heroism to work."

Keller tried to stand upright again and tried to shuffle toward the door, but realizing he wasn't going to make it out, he held out the remote and pressed the button just before he collapsed.

Peter realizing what was about to happen, started to run toward Keller, but Keller pressed the button before he got to him. Seconds later, Mozzie's paramedic friends ran in, prepared to deal with Keller.

"Change of plans." Mozzie shouted, as he hurried over to his friends. "There's a bomb somewhere in here and you need to get him out of here before it blows. You can deposit him as previously planned though." Mozzie paused just a moment as a thought occurred to him. "Oh, you wouldn't possibly have a crow bar with you would you?"

"Toolbox, behind the front seat. Always be prepared, right?"

"I owe you, man."

"Yeah, now you _really_ owe me, Mozzie."

Mozzie was about to run out to the ambulance when he hesitated and then grabbed a couple of the paintings out of the chest before he rushed outside. The paramedics rushed to prepare the gurney to transport Keller, and injected the antidote as well as something to keep him asleep for the ride they were going to take and then quickly vacated the premises.

Peter and Elle meanwhile had started to run in different directions shouting Neal's name to no response. Peter started banging on crates, but didn't hear any sounds.

"Neal. You need to help us find you!" Elizabeth yelled from across the room as she followed Peter's example and banged on several crates.

"I'm not finding him. Should we be looking for the bomb instead? I don't know how much time we have left." Elizabeth yelled in the last direction she had seen Peter.

"Keep looking. He has to be here somewhere. There's no time to disarm a bomb even if we could." Peter yelled back in her direction. There was no way he was going to fail Neal this time, no matter how mad he might have been. He couldn't lose Neal like this; Keller was not going to take Neal from him.

"Suit! I found a crow bar." Mozzie exclaimed breathlessly as he ran back into the warehouse, clutching the crow bar tightly.

"Thanks Mozzie. Hopefully we'll need it soon. I haven't checked that section yet." Peter said as he looked down at his watch. They couldn't have much more than two minutes left. He and Elle had banged on most of the crates, but they hadn't seen any indication that Neal was in any of them.

Peter ran around the corner and his eye caught on a bunch of scrap carpet pieces thrown in the corner, but they were high enough that something had to be under it. Peter hurriedly threw them off and pounded on the old steamer trunk.

"Neal! Neal! Are you in there?" Peter tried shaking the trunk, but it seemed solid. He didn't know if that meant Neal was in there or not, but his gut told him it needed to be opened.

"Mozzie! I need you here! Elle? Honey? Where are you?" Peter had almost forgotten about his wife in his desperate need to find Neal. Mozzie ran up with the crowbar, followed by Elle.

"We need to get in here. I can feel it. I know he's in here."

Mozzie pushed by Peter to try and break the padlocks on the steamer trunk, while Peter grabbed his wife by the shoulders.

"I need you to run now. I don't know how much time we have, but I need you to get out of here while you can. Mozzie and I will work on this."

"Peter, I want to stay with you."

Peter gave her a quick kiss, and then pushed her away. "I need you to run, now. Please honey, I need you to get out of here. I need you to be safe."

Elle didn't argue anymore as she turned and ran, tears starting to run down her face knowing that Peter, Neal and Mozzie were still in danger.

Mozzie and Peter took turns jamming the crowbar into the trunk and finally cracked the seal. Peter hurriedly lifted the lid to find Neal, laying unconscious inside.

"Never bet against the gut." Peter said as he lifted Neal's arm to try and lift him out, while Mozzie grappled with Neal's legs. He was definitely heavier than he looked. Once Neal was out of the trunk, Peter put Neal's arms around his neck and lifted him on his back, with some assistance from Mozzie.

"Go, Mozzie. I've got him. Get as far away as possible."

Mozzie didn't have to be asked twice, but instead of running toward the outside door, Mozzie took off running back toward the chest where he grabbed a couple more paintings before heading out the door.

Peter hadn't stumbled more than 10 yards away from the building with Neal on his back when it exploded. The impact pushed him forward and he stumbled and fell and in the process lost his grip on Neal who went flying several feet farther; pelting both men with debris. Peter shook his head and then looked up trying to figure out where Neal had landed; finally spotting him several feel ahead of him. Peter crawled closer to Neal, unable to walk because his ankle was hurting; he probably had twisted it when he had fallen. Peter had just reached Neal when another explosion hit and Peter protected Neal as best he could while more shrapnel rained down on them. Peter wondered briefly where Elle and Mozzie were and how far they had managed to get away. _Please let them be safe, Please let them be safe_; the simple prayer mantra repeated over and over in his head as the debris kept floating down.

It seemed like hours to Peter, but was probably only a couple minutes until he felt it was safe to look around. As he struggled to sit up, he turned his head around to see that the warehouse had been completely destroyed, but fortunately, this time, Peter hadn't seen any fragments of canvas floating down around him. Peter wondered if Mozzie had actually gotten away with the paintings and what had happened to the semi that Mozzie said had the art. Peter was starting to wonder if Mozzie would just take off and leave without Neal, since Peter couldn't really chase him at the moment. Peter turned back to look at Neal, he hadn't moved, but it looked like he had some cuts and bruises starting to bleed from being hit by the shrapnel from the building, but at least he was still breathing. Peter pulled out his cell phone to call Diana and have her and Jones had the team move in so they could see if they could find any remaining evidence in the warehouse, and have her call an ambulance as well, since there was no way neither he or Neal were going to be walking out of there. While waiting for Diana and the ambulance, Peter dialed Elle on her cell phone, hoping she would pick up. It only rang once before he heard her voice.

"Peter, are you ok? Please tell me you're ok."

Peter couldn't keep the smile off his face, he was so relieved that his wife had answered, obviously anxiously awaiting his call.

"I'm a little worse for wear, but I'll make it. I love you, hon. I just have a few scrapes and bruises, nothing that won't heal. Are you ok? Where are you?"

"I found a cute little park only a couple blocks away, so I'm sitting on a park bench. I heard the explosion and I was praying you and Neal were ok. Is Neal ok? You haven't mentioned him?"

"I don't know, hon. I'm waiting for an ambulance. He's still unconscious, but he's breathing. We both took some shrapnel, but I don't know how bad it is. I was only a couple yard out of the building when it blew, so we got knocked pretty hard. At least we weren't in the building anymore."

"I'm so relieved, I was only trying to think good thoughts, but it was really hard. I'm coming back, I need to see you. Don't go; don't let the ambulance leave until I get there, ok?"

"I can't promise you that, but Diana and Jones and the team will be here, and they'll get you home even if I'm not."

Elizabeth arrived breathless, from apparently speed walking, although not running this time, just as the paramedics had loaded Neal into the ambulance. Seeing his wife, Peter declined to ride with Neal, but did ask what hospital they were going to.

"Peter, look at me. Are you sure you're ok?" Elle didn't like what she was seeing, all the scrapes and trails of blood visible through his ruined t-shirt.

"I've been better." Peter admitted to her as she sat down on the ground next to him. "I'll get us a lift to the hospital."

"And you'll get yourself all checked out and get that ankle looked at before you go see how Neal is doing." Elle responded, leaning over to give him a kiss and then cuddled closer with her head on his chest. "When I heard that explosion, I thought I'd lost you. I was so scared."

"I think I've definitely kept my guardian angel busy all right. I wasn't trying to scare you, hon. I just needed to find Neal. I couldn't let Keller win.'

"I know honey, and I am so proud of you."

_The next afternoon…_

Elizabeth opened the door to Neal's hotel room and then held it open from the inside to let Peter maneuver his crutches through the door. Neal was sitting in a wheelchair, fully dressed and looking like he was definitely ready to go. Emily, a dark haired nurse that Neal had been flirting with just prior to the Burke's arrival, looked at both Elle and Peter and gave them a wink.

"You take good care of this young man, I'd don't want to see him here again for a while. He's all ready to go."

"Well, Neal." Peter said as he grinned. "Maybe you've lost your touch. She doesn't want to see you again."

"Cute. Peter. Can we just go? Besides, I think you need the wheelchair a whole lot more than I do. At least I can walk."

"No dice kid. Elizabeth will push you out. I don't want to take any chances." Peter noticed the big bandage present at the back of Neal's head. "Are you sure you are feeling ok? That looks like a good sized bump."

Neal didn't reply until they were all safely in the elevator heading down.

"Yes, Peter, It's a nice large goose egg, courtesy of Keller, but the doctor assured me it would be fine. I didn't even have to have stitches for any of the shrapnel, just a bunch of Band-Aids, so yeah, I think I'll make it."

They reached the ground floor and Elizabeth parked the wheelchair and Peter sat on one of the stone benches that decorated the circle drive in front of the hospital while Elizabeth went to get the car. Once Elizabeth was out of sight, Neal turned to Peter.

"I heard what you did. You didn't have to risk your life for me. Keller doesn't bluff, he could have killed you. Keller is being taken care of. Mozzie arranged it. I couldn't lose you. No matter what you say you are very important to me and Elizabeth. You were worth the risk. You're worth fighting for."

Neal didn't know what to say. He didn't know how to argue with Peter, and knew that Peter would be upset if he disagreed with his statement. He simply didn't understand what Peter saw in him or Mozzie for that matter.

"Peter, do you know where Mozzie is? Did he make it out?"

"I don't know Neal. He disappeared from the warehouse, more than likely with the art. It's up to him if he wants to resurface."

"Yeah, I guess we'll see." Neal tried not to let the hurt look show that Mozzie had just disappeared with the treasure, and then abruptly changed topics. "I did have a really strange dream last night though."

"Oh, really, was I in it?" Peter asked coyly.

"Actually yes, but that wasn't the strange part. The strange part was that you were being chased by a big moose, and I couldn't save you. I thought I'd lost you, and I felt horrible because I let you die."

"I'm very much alive and here, Neal. It was just a dream, although it was somewhat based in reality?"

"I'm sorry; I must not have heard you correctly."

At that moment, Elizabeth pulled up with the car, and assisted both Peter and Neal in getting into the car. While they waiting while Elizabeth brought the wheelchair back inside, Peter turned to look at Neal who was sitting in the back/

"I stopped at the FBI this morning before we came here and there was a package addressed to you. It's the brown one on the seat. Open it. I'm interested to see what's inside."

"Do you know what's in it?"

"No, but I do know who it's from, so it's probably going to be good."

Neal carefully unwrapped the package pulling out a sweatshirt that had a big embroidered moose on it with the saying "Watch out for moose droppings" across the front, and then a piece of notebook paper and a business card fluttered out.

_Thought you would appreciate having this as a reminder of your brief encounter with an Alaskan. Don't worry, it's clean. No moose droppings in sight. Good luck on your future crime solving cases. I hope you got the art mess figured out. I hope I was more of a help than a hindrance, and I hope Agent Burke wasn't too mad at me that you escaped. If you ever want to experience Alaska, or have some random investigation all the way out here, give me a call… _

_ David_

Peter carefully watched Neal's face for any trace of recognition, but there wasn't any. No laughter, no corny comments, nothing. Peter wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not.

"I don't get this, Peter. This doesn't make sense to me. How could he possibly known about the moose in my dream."

"What, you don't think that's funny anymore?"

"I don't know what's supposed to be funny, Peter! I don't get it, and how does this guy even know me?"

"Neal, this all happened within the last couple days, but there was no real moose. It was just a sweatshirt, and the guy wearing it just happened to save my life, and then he sort of tagged along when things got a little interesting. You're sure you don't remember?"

"A moose sweatshirt like this? I think I would have remembered that, besides it's not at all my style."

"Nonsense, you just need to find a hat to go with it."

"Funny."

"What's so funny?" Elizabeth asked sliding into the driver's seat.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It's really not funny. I was being sarcastic."

"It's really nothing Elle," Peter volunteered. "We just discovered that some of Neal's memories are not quite so intact. I think he got hit a little harder than he thought."

"Oh, dear. Well, I guess that calls for a little extra pampering when we drop you off. I'll make sure June knows, too." Elle said chuckling.

"I can live with that, perhaps Peter can fill me in on what memories I'm missing."

"Not likely. You wouldn't believe me. Truth is stranger than fiction. Nice sweatshirt though."


End file.
